Wagaliciousness Begins Here!

There are people celebrating across America and around the world today. It’s both Global and National Drink Wine Day, and it’s a great reason to look at whatever it is you love from a different vantage point.

We’ll start with wine: people who love wine so much that they’ve made a hobby or a business of it are called oenophiles. It’s a fun word to say – E no file – and it’s fun to see what these people have in common. They love wine so much that they’ve studied and collected it, they travel to the wine regions of the world to learn about its origins, and they learn about food so they can create inspired pairings. Since wine relaxes most people, oenophiles are often pretty laid-back, and since moderate consumption has been touted to create healthier cholesterol levels, maybe they’re even less prone to heart attacks.

What do you love?  

I love dog sports. I’ve owned dogs and shown dogs in conformation, obedience, rally obedience, agility, and so many more sports, and I love the fun of ...

Have you ever trained a puppy? You got this squirmy, silly, sweet ball of fluff and suddenly you either had to teach the puppy rules and manners, or else you had to live with the random chewing and smelly little mistakes that happen without training.

For most of the last century, dog training was best described as “jerk and yell.” You put a training collar on your dog and as soon as he did something wrong, you issued a verbal correction (often “NO!!”) and jerked on the collar. Thankfully, dog training has come a looooooong way since then. Dolphin trainer Karen Pryor wrote a breakthrough book in 1984 entitled “Don’t Shoot the Dog! – The New Art of Teaching and Training.” Through her work with dolphins, she saw that positive reinforcement was the fastest, most reliable way of teaching any species. The book is considered foundational to those who train their dogs in this century and is also a very useful look at how to train people.

Yes, people. In her book, Karen describes specific pos...

Today I’m putting on my dog show judge hat while we talk about perfectionism. Unexpected, I know – this weekend, accomplished dog sports enthusiasts are converging on Madison Square Garden and the Jacob K. Javitz Center in New York City for the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. The best of the best dogs from across America and even around the world prepare to strut their stuff, hoping to win top honors.

Have you ever watched a dog show on TV or in person? A very normal reaction many people have is “how does the judge choose – they all look perfect!” If you’ve ever thought that thought, you’re right – many of the dogs in the ring are near the peak of perfection for their breed, and yet every dog but one walks away without the big trophy and media splash that accompanies winning Westminster.

Oh, and then there’s this – even the dog that wins Westminster Kennel Club, arguably the most prestigious win in the world of purebred dogs, isn’t perfect.

Yes, the winner may look perfect – perfe...

Last week a dear friend asked me a question, and I’m going to ask you the same one: do you make New Year’s resolutions?

My answer is no. I’ve been on this planet long enough to have experienced my pattern of good intentions and so-so results when trying to make life changes in the middle of winter, my least-favorite season. What’s your answer?

No matter which side you’re on, Team Resolution or Team Go With the Flow, you’re in good company. About half of Americans make resolutions at the changing of the year, and the rest of us don’t. For those who do, only about 10% will succeed at their stated goal, and the other 90% will tap out this week or next.

Yes, most people who make resolutions give themselves two weeks or less before throwing in the towel. Turns out, the idea of change is much more fun than the reality of instituting that change. When you understand how habits form and are reinforced inside your brain’s architecture, this wave of mass January failure makes perfect sense.

Oh, we human beings cherish endings and beginnings. From baby showers to funerals, housewarmings to homecomings, and of course to the hoopla around the changing of the year, the celebrations for the milestones in our lives show us just how important these events are.

But why?

Many of the traditions around endings and beginnings have been in place for hundreds of years, maybe even thousands of years, and in some cases far more than thousands of years. Around 100,000 years ago humans started intentionally burying their dead. In the century or so BCE, the Romans started celebrating birthdays, though usually only men’s birthdays and then only the big milestones, like 50 and 60 years. In the Renaissance period, families with wealth and nobility began celebrating birthdays amongst themselves. The concept of children’s birthday parties developed in Germany in the 1800’s and the brave new world of consumer products had a fresh itch to scratch. The origins of tonight’s changing-of-the-year fe...

Oh, the lovely traditions of the holidays. For some, this time of year is all about festive traditions, and for some, it’s more about their religious affiliation. No matter what or why you celebrate, not every aspect of your holidays is made of wildflowers and unicorns. For a lot of people, there are parts of the festivities they wish would go away.

And that’s perfectly OK!

Maybe your family didn’t spring from a Norman Rockwell painting. Maybe your idyllic childhood was marred by a tragic loss. Maybe you have one dysfunctional person you can avoid the rest of the year but have to deal with during the holidays, and you’d really rather not.

It can be very difficult to buck traditions and family expectations, and it’s often the pathway to your own mental balance and wellbeing. I’m going to ask you an important question – are you an adult? If you’re living an otherwise autonomous life yet are having difficulty setting a holiday-related boundary, time to focus on and fix this holiday hic...

Think back to your childhood, and what you remember from Decembers past. Chances are, at least a few of your memories include sweets. Maybe your mom was like mine, and she made holiday cookies, candies, and pies. What did she make, and what was your favorite? Do you make it now, and if so, how do your family members react?

Maybe your December memories include some not-so-sweet ones. I remember watching Mom cry so hard I thought her heart would stop when Dad left for Viet Nam in December of 1968. I hope when you think back on your Decembers, the good memories drown out the not-so-good ones.

My mom was Eileen Weaver and she loved to create holiday favorites. Each year she’d spend pieces of several days creating a mountain of sugary goodness for the family and to give as gifts. Dad loved her peanut patties and date nut roll. My brothers and I loved her snowball cookies, and loved helping her make cut-out cookies decorated with colored icing and sprinkles. She made caramel corn, peanut b...

Quick – what’s your name? I bet you know the answer to that question by heart, right? One of the first things parents teach their babies is how to recognize and use names – mama, dada, doggie, and the child’s own name. But what’s in a name and why are they so important that they get an entire week’s celebration?

The first full week in March is Celebrate Your Name Week. It’s one of those oddball holidays that got started because one person became randomly, then endlessly, fascinated by something. In this case, Jerry Hill read a news story about another Jerry Hill who died. That Jerry Hill happened to be from the first Jerry Hill’s hometown, making him wonder if they were related, then begin to start wondering about names. He became so fascinated by names that he created a website, which was so fascinating to others that eventually Public Broadcasting Service wrapped it into their website.

Names matter. Classrooms are organized by name. People form knee-jerk opinions about others just ...

Today let’s talk about leaders, and the leader that lives inside each of us. It’s easy to think about leaders as those who are somehow above our level – the president of your division, the president of your company, the president of the United States – and those are all leaders.

Did you know that you are a leader?

Today, let’s talk about what makes a good leader, and where leaders show up in our lives. Take a look at these examples:

• Have you ever sat behind someone at a red light and when the light turned green, they started driving? That’s leadership skills right there. A good leader pays attention to the conditions around them and reacts appropriately at the right time. If you don’t believe that taking off when the light turns green is showing leadership, think about how you feel when the person in front of you fails to go when the light turns green. Do you get irritated? Wonder if they’re on their phone? Clearly, they aren’t paying attention to conditions that affect themselves
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